Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 204
Series: n/a
Review Source: Netgalley

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
A story of crushes, corsets, and conspiracy

Libby Kelting had always felt herself born out of time. No wonder the historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-around history nerd jumped at the chance to intern at Camden Harbor, Maine’s Oldest Living History Museum. But at Camden Harbor Libby’s just plain out of place, no matter how cute she looks in a corset. Her cat-loving coworker wants her dead, the too-smart-for-his-own-good local reporter keeps pushing her buttons, her gorgeous sailor may be more shipwreck than dreamboat — plus Camden Harbor’s haunted. Over the course of one unforgettable summer, Libby learns that boys, like ghosts, aren’t always what they seem.

My Thoughts:
Likes
- main character who is a history nerd: she’s obsessed with history for the same reasons I love it -- the fantastic stories about people, not the dates and numbers
- living history museum setting: not quite as cool or as big a part as the ones in Past Perfect, but still very awesome; historical costumes, language, and references abound
- minor ghost plot: it’s not really a huge part of the book, though it does set up one of the relationships; mainly it just led to some fun scenes, and who doesn’t like to read about a potentially haunted ship?

Dislikes
- some very stereotypical side characters: girl who is rude to the main character for no reason, incredibly gorgeous love interest who might not be the guy he seems to be, sassy and fashion obsessed gay best friend, plain jane new friend, secretly hot nerd … it’s not that some of these characters weren’t fun, but they weren’t at all surprising. They were exactly the characters I expected them to be
- very strange side plot involving the gay best friend; it just seemed pretty melodramatic and a way to get him back with Libby in order for another part of the book to occur
- Libby was quite naive about her feelings for the two main male characters: it was so obvious who she would end up with, and it wasn’t in a cute way that she ignored the signs -- it was more insulting to the readers that she would say one thing and then completely believe something else the next second

Conclusions
Fun read that is easy to get through. If you’re looking for a light-hearted romp then this is perfect. Don’t go in with extremely high expectations and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the reading experience. It’s definitely not one of my favourites, but I still had a fun time with it for the most part.

The Cover:
Cute! =)

Rating:
[3/5]

Find Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.